Snow Day

Ike, barefoot, playing in the snow with his Hot Wheels color changing car.

I love Snow Days! I love them probably just as much now or maybe even more than I did as a kid. There is something that makes me giddy, early in the morning when I hear that school has been canceled due to the weather. I love it when Will can stay home and our life, once again slows down, routine flies out the door, and we can just enjoy each other and PLAY! Thursday morning Mike and I awoke skeptic that Will would have school and sure enough school was cancelled. Yea! The forecast said freezing drizzle, rain, and snow. People were speculating an Ice Storm comparable to the one we experienced two years ago. Sure enough, it started to drizzle and ice, and today it is snowing, beautiful, plump flakes, and happily no one has lost power yet. If you've never experienced a Mid-West ice storm, you are missing out. They can be wild, and Walmart is even wilder when one is in the forecast....But that should be a different post.

Today, however, I just want to celebrate the fact that there is no school, my yard is covered in beautiful snow, and they shut down the university too, so my favorite professor is home as well. It can't get better than that. This is bliss, having no where to go, no deadlines to meet, no homework to do, my family all around me, having a warm home, a pantry and fridge full of food, a cup of hot chocolate (and I don't even like hot chocolate) and snow falling down. boys watching old spider man cartoons on YouTube.

The boys wanted to build a log cabin. Here they are in the freezing drizzle yesterday working on it.

The boys moving logs in the rain. They convinced Mike to help. Love that I'm married to a man who plays with his kids. I'm convinced that every family of boys should have a large wood pile, stick pile, some sort of pile etc.. somewhere in their yard. The whole purpose of this pile is simply to have boys move it back and forth. They love it, and it will provide hours of entertainment.

....Now if we do loose power, all our logs are soaking wet, but that's ok.. I guess we can burn the furniture:)

So in the spirit of Snow Days here are a few fun things to do.

My Favorite Hot Chocolate Recipe Ever.

(I said, I don't like Hot chocolate, that is true, except Steven's French Vanilla and this baby below. I do believe they serve this in Heaven:)

French Chocolate, From Martha Gardner

2-1/2 quarts milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup chocolate syrup (Hershey)

1/3 cup pwd. sugar

Warm milk. Meanwhile, whip heavy cream, chocolate syrup and sugar until stiff. Can refrigerate up to 2 hours at this point. To serve, put a heaping tablespoon into each cup. Pour hot milk over it and enjoy. (just picture this in cute, little white tea cups with white saucers and it's perfect.)

My favorite Play Dough recipe.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup salt

2 packages of unsweetened Kool-Aid (this is the color)

2 cups boiling water

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix the salt, flour, and Kool-Aid packets. (Be sure you are using the small sachets of unsweetened mix.) Use one color per batch. Add the boiling water and oil and stir until blended. Let cool and then knead until the dough is consistent in color and texture.

stores for several months in a zippered plastic bag or airtight container.

Now go outside and play!